Games

How about a game of hopscotch across these stream cobbles
with a clover chain for a lanyard-
-wet feet settling any dispute
over who stepped out of the lines?
Or maybe we should play follow-the-leader
on our bellies,
trailing the ants on their various adventures.
Or, if nobody’s around, why not play a game of hide-and-seek
all by yourself
in a wild place
that tickles your curiosity but also triggers
the electric chill of the alarm hairs
on the back of your neck
and see what comes seeking?
Let’s play pick-up sticks with lumpy sticks or tiddlywinks
with living winks.
Let’s collect wet marbles,
rounded by the ten-thousand-year-old
riverbed rock tumbler,
and play an old-fashioned game of ringer.
Let’s play steal-the-gold on a five acre wooded court
in the snow...
The gold: a crown of fallen aspen leaves
hidden towards the top of the tallest tree.
Let’s play full-contact, cross-country, miniature golf,
or if you are feeling mellow,
a game of checkers:
acorn caps vs. walnut shells
worn like little hats on frogs and lizards...
pieces that move on their own.
Or, let’s not.
Rather, let’s think of games we could play
as we rest in this boulder,
sunning ourselves like blue-bellied skinks.